The Royal Scandal *Book Two*

The Queen's Delicacies S2 E6

After the revelation of Catrina's true form, the whole city now knew about my father's marriage to a troll, most of us decided to work together to try and get him to see reason. Gaius, Leon, and several other knights had decided to go first to try and talk to father but my gut was telling me that this was not going to go well at all.

Merlin and I had already started our research on any sort of enchantment that my father could be under and if so, any way to break it. I was sat on the bench, cross-legged, flicking through about my fifth book when Gaius got back. From the look on his face I could tell that my prediction had been correct.

"Uther must be enchanted. It's the only explanation," Gaius pondered, as he began to pace around us.

"Or maybe he's just... really into trolls?" I shrugged.

"Chelsea, this is a serious matter," Gaius reminded me.

"Yes, you're right. I'm sorry," I apologised. "We certainly can't have her being in con-troll."

Gaius stopped pacing and stared at me while Merlin chuckled beside me.

"Chelsea..." Gaius warned, returning to his pacing. "Just read your books."

"Yes, Chels. Now is not the time to be punny," Merlin smiled to himself, making me laugh quietly, glancing away from Gaius' fixating glare.

"You two, stop it. Camelot currently is being ruled by an Enchanted King and a troll Queen," Gaius reminded us.

"We're very sorry," Merlin apologised, while I nodded my head in agreement. "We'll stop trolling you now." Not expecting another troll joke, I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips.

Gaius looked at us, an eyebrow raised and I could see that he was seriously contemplating going back to my father, insulting Catrina, and getting his head lopped off just so he could escape our terrible humour.

"Ok, ok, we'll stop. Right, so we have to break the enchantment," I cleared my throat, looking back down at my book, serious mode activated.

"You won't find anything in your magic books, troll enchantments are too strong," Gaius told us, making us look back up from the books.

"Then what are we going to do?" Merlin asked.

"You must speak to the Dragon," Gaius said. "If there is a way to break Catrina's hold on Uther, he will know it. But be careful. Dragon's and trolls have been close allies in the past."

Trolls and Dragons, eh? Now that sounds like a match made in hell.

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As the sun started to set in Camelot and the cool evening breeze rustled down the empty corridors, Merlin and I snuck around each corner, blending into the shadows, as if we were ghosts.

It had been some time since I had last seen the Great Dragon and to be honest, after everything Merlin had told me about him and his recent behaviour, I don't know if I was excited about seeing him again.

My father and Catrina were currently dining in the great hall so we needn't worry about them catching us, and everyone else was probably shut away, contemplating how the great kingdom of Camelot was slowly crumbling away as their magic-hating king became infatuated by a troll. If the sake of the kingdom wasn't at risk I would find this whole situation highly amusing (ok, I still did) and apparently I wasn't the only one who found it slightly comical.

When we reached the Great Dragon and after a brief hello ("It's been some time, princess" and "hello again, young Warlock") we explained our situation to Kilgharrah.